Iris
by ncfan
Summary: It doesn't matter how they came together, only that they are. /Naruto pairing drabbles. Pairings will be strictly het, updates sporadic./ Spun Glass: There was blood seeping from the right hand side of his mouth.
1. NejiTen: White Gauze

**Title**: White Gauze  
**Summary**: Among other things, when applying bandages, Tenten had gentle hands.  
**Pairing**: NejiTen  
**Rating**: K  
**Notes**: This is post-time skip.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"You know, you wouldn't have these issues," Tenten huffed, without rancor, "if you were just more careful when you fight."

Neji sighed mutely and prepared himself for a lecture as she continued to swath on bandages over the raw, bloody skin on his arms. He supposed that, if he was stupid enough to train with the move that he had without protecting his skin first, he probably deserved whatever lecture she gave him, and that said lecture would probably be gentler with Tenten delivering it than, say, Sakura or Ino.

Tenten's hands winding the snowy white bandages over his arms were surprisingly gentle; Tenten was known for many things, but hands that were clever in any matter but weaponry was not one of those things.

"How did you do this, anyway?" Her fair-skinned brow furrowed as Tenten did her work, slowly and meticulously. "I've never known you to hurt yourself training before."

A slight red hue entered Neji's sallow cheeks as he defended himself. "It's a technique I came up with by accident; no one's ever done it before, so there's no documentation of injury when it's put into effect. If I'd known it would have this effect, I wouldn't have tried to train with it."

As she continued to apply bandages, Tenten could apparently derive some humor out of the situation, because she smiled. "Well, Lee and Gai-sensei would be congratulating you for experimenting with your abilities like this, but I'm still inclined to think that this was one of your more stupid moments, Neji."

"Go ahead and get it all out, Tenten," Neji told her wearily. "I'm sure you have something to say."

Brown hair trembled as the kunoichi shook her head. "I don't have anything to say; I'm just stating fact. You already know how stupid this was; anything I say would be redundant."

She finished, as afternoon sunlight poured blindingly through her kitchen window. "All done," she stated matter-of-factly. Suddenly, Tenten smirked. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"Actually…"


	2. NejiTen: Best Laid Plans

**Title:** Best-Laid Plans  
**Summary:** Ways to say "I love you" #1: When her house has been destroyed, offer to let her stay with your family. Just be aware that everything's bound to conspire against your being alone with her for any amount of time.  
**Pairing:** NejiTen  
**Rating:** K  
**Notes:** Spoilers for the Pein Invasion arc.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Tenten had never been the biggest fan of extended camping trips, but when everything was taken into account, her apartment had been destroyed, Neji had offered to let her stay where the Hyuuga were camping out, and she, being no fool, had gladly agreed, grateful to have somewhere to stay.

Neji, for his part, silently congratulated himself the moment she said "Yes".

The stars were spread out in a spangled tapestry overhead as Neji saw her emerge from the darkness, her white, red-trimmed shirt shining in the deep night darkness. Tenten waved enthusiastically as she came to stand in front of him in the sea of sturdy white tents. "Hi!" she called through the night.

"Hello." Neji smiled slightly, feeling—unwillingly—the beginning of giddiness in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her bright, friendly smile. "Did you have any trouble getting here?"

Tenten shook her head. "No. I was just catching up with some friends this afternoon during the reconstruction; Ino and Shikamaru say hello."

Dozens of voices, the droning sounds of the mass of the Hyuuga clan, slacked off slightly at that point as the fires and lanterns began to be put out and everyone started settling down.

"That's good," Neji murmured. "I'm glad they're alright."

Tenten looked around, standing slightly on tip toe, her eyes roaming the tents. "So, which one's ours?" she asked. "It's pretty late, and it's been a long day. I'll be glad to be able to sleep tonight."

"It's right over there. Follow me."

A few of the Hyuuga, still awake and sitting outside of the tents, shot slightly curious looks at Tenten, but soon lost interest, considering she wasn't the only non-Hyuuga staying with the clan that night and Tenten, being Neji's teammate, was well-known to the Branch Family of the Hyuuga clan.

"Neji!"

Almost the moment they got to the tent, a girl's voice called out from the tents. Hinata and Hanabi came into view, the former still cradling a broken arm in a sling, the latter leading her older sister on.

Hanabi stared up at her older cousin and didn't hesitate before breaking into her words. "Otousama was going to have neesan and I sleep in the tent with him tonight, but when he found out that Tenten-san was staying here, he sent us over, and wanted to know if it would be alright with you to have Hinata-neesan and I stay with you and Tenten-san tonight." The eleven-year-old was, as usual, matter-of-fact and confident, keeping her chin tilted slightly upwards.

Neji sighed inwardly. _Of course._

While he was searching for ways to politely decline Hiashi's request, Tenten cut in, shooting a sympathetic look at Hinata, who still looked definitely the worse for wear from her encounter with one of the Paths of Pein. "Sure. That's alright with us." She frowned as she looked up at Neji. "Right, Neji?"

Neji's inward sigh nearly became outward. He was stuck with his two cousins now. "Of course." He held the tent flap open for the three as they filed in, Tenten going last. It was a good thing there was more than enough room for all of them in there.

There were small breathing sounds and exclamations of relief as the four hit the grass and laid down for the night.

Neji was frowning as he laid on his back, admittedly a bit surly that his well-laid plans had been unintentionally—or maybe not unintentionally—foiled by Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata and Hinata's broken arm. And after all the effort he'd gone to to get Tenten to agree to come over that night.

"Hey?" He heard a soft, feminine voice whisper beside him. Neji tilted his head to one side, and saw Tenten lying on her side in the soft, sweet-smelling grass, looking right at him. "Thanks for letting me stay over with you tonight. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

For every foiled plan, there was a silver lining.


	3. KabuShiz: Ring

**Title**: Ring  
**Summary**: It was the only thing he had ever given her.  
**Pairing**: KabuShiz  
**Rating**: K  
**Notes**: Since the use of wedding rings has only been popularized in Japan relatively recently, I'm going on the assumption that they aren't widely used in the shinobi nations in the Naruto universe, and that most people there wouldn't know the significance of a wedding or engagement ring if they saw one. Another note: Given how much I love this pairing, anyone who's familiar with my work should have expected a drabble concerning this pair to come up early on.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

A plain, delicate gold band, with no ornate decoration or engraving. It rested coolly in her hand, and fitted her ring finger perfectly, though she never wore it.

The last night they had laid eyes on each other, in the middle of a hair-raising battle, he had found her and pressed it into her hand, with a sharp, whispered, _"Take this. We'll talk later_", before disappearing back into the throng. She had continued to fight on, not even bothering to see what he had given her, tucking it down the front of her yukata. It had only been after the smoke cleared and her group went home that she had taken the small object out from the front of her yukata and turned it over in her hand.

Weeks after that final encounter between them, Orochimaru died, and the night that he died Kabuto pulled a disappearing act that would have made any ANBU agent jealous, and was never seen again in the nations.

Shizune was left to wonder.

It was the only thing he had ever given her, and she had to wonder why he had given it to her. Kabuto had always done things for reasons that she failed to comprehend, even knowing him as she did. And she didn't know, couldn't comprehend, what he had wanted to talk to her about that had made his eyes show rare, undisguised nervousness when he had given the ring over to her.

She never saw him again. Shizune didn't mourn, didn't grieve, never confessed what their relationship had been, never let her emotions overcome her, and she never broke down. She continued to live on, a little less lively, a little duller, a little sadder. Kabuto's presence was missed, constantly, a dull, aching hurt that never festered but didn't heal all the same. People noted the change in her but were never able to discern what it had been.

Shizune kept the ring throughout the years. She didn't know what made her keep it. Shizune had never had much fondness for jewelry, even such a plain piece as the thin gold band. She didn't wear it on her hand, but always had it on her person, close to her heart beneath her mesh undershirt and kimono slip, a faint but comforting weight.

As the years went on, slipping away like grains of sand through an hourglass, Shizune continued to guard the ring jealously, despite not understanding its value. It was the only thing Kabuto had ever given to her, all that she had left of him besides memories that faded and yellowed like old newspaper, and in the end, she may have clung to it so fiercely because it was all she had to convince herself that his presence in her life had been real.


	4. NaruKarin: An Acceptable Apology

**Title**: An Acceptable Apology  
**Summary**: Ways to say "I love you" #2: When you forget her birthday, apologize by proposing.  
**Pairing**: NaruKarin  
**Rating**: K+  
**Notes**: Set a few years after the end of the series. Naruto and Karin are in their early twenties. And appropriately, Karin's birthday was yesterday.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure why he always had to go for the short-tempered girls. He thought about that as he exchanged what could only be described as a screaming match with said short-tempered girl from her apartment window.

"Come on, Karin let me come in!" Naruto shouted up to the second-story window, which was open to allow Karin and her long, scarlet hair to poke out. He was starting to get just a little desperate, his levels of desperation rising in proportion with her anger.

The redhead's response was as expected. "Hell no!" Karin shrieked from the window, clearly uncaring that their ruckus was drawing the attention of half of Konoha in the mid-morning calm. Even from so high up, Naruto could practically feel the rage coming off of her out from her bright red eyes. "How the hell could you forget my birthday? We'd been planning that party for weeks!"

"Please, I'm sorry!"

"Do I look like I care?"

Hot sunlight beat down on Naruto's back as he rubbed the back of his neck ruefully, thinking of what he could say that would possibly placate his seething girlfriend. _Girlfriend? _Naruto smiled grimly. _At the moment, closer to girl 'fiend'._

_God, I am so stupid. How could I forget?_

_Oh, yeah, I remember now. Well, maybe if I tell her why I forgot, she won't be so mad at me anymore._

"MARRY ME!" Naruto screamed, cupping his mouth in his hands. His last-ditch attempt to get her to accept his apology, and he prayed it would work. Of course, it would be nice if she said 'yes', too.

For a moment, there was silence, and Naruto got the impression that the half of Konoha that had been eavesdropping on their screaming match was holding their collective breaths.

Karin herself was staring at him as though he'd grown a second head, finely marked brows disappearing into her messy bangs. "What?" Her sharp voice had risen to a strangely strangled squeak.

Naruto grinned up at her. "You heard me! Marry me!"

Convinced that she hadn't stepped into the Twilight Zone, Karin's reaction was immediate. "Just a minute." Her head disappeared from sight, and Naruto prayed that when she—presumably—came outside, things would not come to blows.

After a minute, the back door to the apartment building opened, and Karin stepped out, a strongly satisfied smile on her face. She held out her hand to Naruto, beckoning him inside. "You are forgiven."


	5. MinaKushi: Something Moving

**Title**: Something Moving  
**Summary**: Kushina was determined to alter the anatomy of Minato's kitchen.  
**Pairing**: MinaKushi  
**Rating**: K+  
**Notes**: The only spoilers here are if you don't know who Minato and Kushina are, and you should know who they are.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"I," Kushina gasped, putting a hand to her cheek in theatrical horror, "have seen many horrifying things in my life, Minato. But none of those horrifying things can compare with this kitchen!"

Minato's face colored in embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's the bachelor pad, what can I say?"

"Yeah, well the _bachelor pad_—" Kushina rolled her eyes on the two words, mouth practically oozing sarcasm "—smells of mold and week-old takeout."

Minato's face got even redder as he moved into the living room and sat down on his couch. "Look, Kushina. I've got the movie. Do you want to watch or not?" he asked gingerly, almost afraid to hear how she would respond.

Her response was about as he had expected, though considerably less caustic than he had feared it would be. "Not until this kitchen is fit for human habitation." There came the sounds of Kushina bustling around in the kitchen; Minato was forcibly reminded of a fussing mother hen when she behaved like that.

Then came the shriek.

"Oh, my God! Minato!"

"What?" Minato jumped up, alarmed. The movie forgotten, he hurried over to the kitchen where Kushina stood, face affixed in an expression of genuine and unadulterated horror, shaking head to toe, eyes fixed on the kitchen sink.

It was a sight, Minato had to admit, piled high with unwashed dishes. Minato had no dishwasher, and had been meaning to clean them, but with all the missions he'd been sent on lately, he'd had no time, and every time Minato was able to come home, he was too tired to even want to try and tackle the mess. It was truly horrifying—

"I saw something _moving_ in that sink!"

—but Minato was inclined to think that Kushina was exaggerating, just a little bit.

"Now, Kushina…" Minato's tone was soothing and admittedly placatory; that was about the only way he knew to deal with the fiery girl when she was overwrought, and arguing with Kushina about whether or not there was something alive in his kitchen sink wasn't going to solve anything.

Kushina shook her head wildly. "Don't 'Now, Kushina' me! You have no excuse for letting your kitchen fall into this state of disrepair, Minato, and don't even try to tell me the missions are too much to keep you from keeping a relatively clean house."

"We can clean it—"

"We? _We?_ Oh, no, there's no 'we' about it, my friend." Kushina rubbed her forehead with the sort of weariness that would have been more applicable to a mother of two wild toddlers. "Get out of the kitchen. Just give me half an hour, and I guarantee you the surfaces in this kitchen will be fit to eat off of again."

Minato shrugged. There really was no arguing with Kushina, and if she wanted to go on a spur of house cleaning for him, he wasn't about to complain. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes." She nodded vigorously, starting to root around the kitchen. "Get me some disinfectant and some dishwashing soap. Get me bleach and a pair of rubber gloves. Hell, get me some lye too, I might need it." Kushina waved a hand in the air. "When I'm done with this place, Namikaze Minato, you're not going to recognize one inch of it. I'm going to prove that you actually _have_ a kitchen under all this filth!"

Half an hour later, and Kushina had lived up to her word. The surface of the kitchen counters gleamed so much that one's reflection could be seen in them, and the dishes were all clean and put away, sparkling white. Kushina had, it was true, been forced to summon two Kage Bunshin to help her, but the job was done, and she had an air of distinct satisfaction around her.

Minato had turned out the lights and put the movie in. It was one of those older horror movies from the days when horror movies were still relatively deep, had a decent plot, and didn't rely on massively gory special effects to carry ratings and profits across the boards.

As Minato was sitting on the couch and waiting for Kushina to join him, a large bowl of popcorn descended in front of his eyes. He looked up when long locks of scarlet hair fell over his face.

Kushina was leaning over him, holding the popcorn bowl and smiling. "What would you do without me?"

"Starve," Minato answered, honestly, taking the bowl and Kushina came and sat down beside him. He put an arm around her shoulders. "Or die of food poisoning."


	6. SasoKaru: Bars

**Title**: Bars  
**Summary**: She stretched her hands through the bars, one more time.  
**Pairing**: SasoKaru (Sasori x Karura)  
**Rating**: T  
**Notes**: This would be an AU in which Sasori's part in the disappearance of the Sandaime Kazekage was discovered before he left the village.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The bars created jails stripes across his face, across his entire body, premeditating his fate in the desert, to wander around the dunes, blind and helpless, until death took him, either at the hands of the sun or of some enterprising jackal.

When morning came, he would die, and Sasori wasn't even sure anymore that he wasn't welcoming that. He sat against the cot pressed to the wall, one leg dangling off, waiting with an almost bored expression on his face for the sun to come bloody red over the dunes and spell out his demise. At least the monotony would finally be broken.

A light trail of footsteps reached Sasori's ears and he frowned only slightly, casting his almost-red gaze to the narrow, vertical rectangular window near the ceiling. The light was from pre-dawn, not full daylight. It wasn't time yet. And the prison warden had considerably heavier footfalls than what he was hearing.

"Sasori." All his practiced calm was driven away by the sound of that one, soft word being spoken by a familiar voice.

The footsteps ceased abruptly when Karura came into sight in front of the cell, face shadowed by the vertical bars.

For a moment, they just stared at each other, mute and unable to speak a single word. Sasori gaped at her, wondering why she was there when she hadn't visited previously, not since the conclusion of the trial a week ago. The skirt of her lightweight brown yukata didn't brush the floor as some women's did, hanging between her knees and her ankles; her hitai-ate was gone, as well as anything that would have indicated that she was a kunoichi. Without her hitai-ate, Karura's long blonde bangs hung lower over her dark green eyes than usual.

She seemed…different. Drained. Her face was strangely neutral, slightly paler than usual, as Karura bit her lip and got down on her knees in front of the cell.

"Umm…" Karura was reaching for words to say, her face breaking into a sad, nervous smile that made Sasori feel the start of prickling of shame for evoking those feelings in her when she was normally so confident and, if not serene, relatively happy. He got up from the cot and knelt on the other side of the bars from her.

It was hard to tell anymore, who was inside and who was out. Who was the prisoner and who was free. The jail stripes fell over both of them, as the narrow windows in the hall, the only source of light, put pools of deep yellow light onto the dark brown stone.

"Are you alright?" Sasori was surprised to hear the words coming out of his own mouth and not hers, quiet in the pre-morning quiet. The desert heat was already starting to penetrate into the cell block, which had been cooled by the night cold.

In response, Karura tilted her head slightly, from one side to the other, facial expression ambivalent at best. "Funny," she muttered. "I figured I'd be asking you that, instead of the other way around."

Karura extended her hands through the bars, an almost apologetic smile on her face, though Sasori couldn't comprehend why. "Sasori?"

Sasori didn't do anything, and Karura pulled her hands back through the bars, face falling slightly, looking faintly crestfallen. "Sasori, I'm not here to discuss what happened those two years ago." She looked around, nervous for eavesdroppers. "I just wanted to see you, one more time."

Sasori's face colored, and he looked away. She'd already made her feelings clear, nearly a month ago, and it hadn't been what he'd wanted to hear. Sasori failed to understand what she was still doing there, after all that time, when she hadn't said a thing to him since that night.

Her voice intruded upon the quiet once more, soft, familiar, sweet and welcome. "I just…thought you deserved to see a friendly face. Please?" Karura slipped her hands through the bars again, placating, almost like a supplicant to a distant god.

This time, Sasori didn't hesitate. When Karura reached through the heavy iron bars, Sasori took the hands she offered into his own; there was hardly any difference in the size of their hands, and fit in each other's perfectly. The only real difference was the in the color of skin, Sasori's moon pale skin, strangely translucent for a desert dweller, and Karura's tanned, golden skin.

Holding her hands in his, the callused fingers warm and lacing into his own, as Sasori pressed the firm, familiar skin up against his cool, drained cheeks, for just a moment, he wanted to live.


	7. SasoTema: Proxy

**Title: **Proxy  
**Summary**: Sasori wondered if he would ever see Temari as anything but a shadow of her mother.  
**Pairing**: SasoTema, mentioned SasoKaru  
**Rating**: T  
**Notes**: This takes place within the same universe as my oneshot _Suna's Red Sand._ This won't make a whole lot of sense without reading it first. This would take place during the Chunin Exam arc.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sasori wondered if there was a name for what he was experiencing, since he knew it couldn't just be him who was having that sort of issue. At the moment, it was just a nameless bugbear to him, a ridiculous situation that both frustrated, tormented, and irritated him.

It wasn't, he knew, appropriate to have the sort of thoughts that he did towards the young kunoichi. Quite frankly, he would have liked to expunge the thoughts from his mind like bloodstains from the wood of his puppets, but he couldn't, because to deny thought would have been to deny breath, and to forget Temari would mean forgetting Karura.

She had become a substitute. Sasori knew that it was entirely possible that he had simply transferred his thwarted feelings and affections from mother to daughter, and that just as with Karura, it wasn't likely to end particularly well.

Temari was nearly twenty years younger than him, a child, despite what everyone believed. To the world, Sabaku no Temari was no child, but a woman in a young girl's body, a woman with the same ruthlessness, the same raw strength and the same sheer sensuality of any grown woman. While those qualities were hard for anyone, especially Sasori, to ignore, he was around her long enough to know that Temari was a child still, with a child's fragile psyche, a child's insecurities, and most of all, a child's willingness to trust those who were close to her.

Still, she was so very like her mother.

Sasori said nothing, made no attempt to resolve the issue. If he did that, then it would inevitably get back to Temari, and he needed to add no fuel to the fire, and give her the wrong idea.

Temari could get the wrong idea all by herself.

Sasori lied on his back on the tatami mat in his hotel room, Deidara snoring on the other side of the room, half-awake. The incense he had been burning was going low, the strong, pungent smell growing faintly stale.

A small knock came on the door, jolting Sasori into full wakefulness.

Standing up, he walked over and slid the sliding door open, letting in light from the hall. Temari was on the other side.

At fifteen, Temari was slightly shorter than Sasori, and only had to tilt her chin up slightly to meet his eyes. She seemed strangely nervous, a trait definitely unassociated with the normally confident, slightly brash young girl.

"Sasori?" she whispered; for whatever reason, Temari had never chosen to attach any sort of honorific to his name when addressing him, and Sasori, strangely, didn't question it. "Gaara's gone."

"That's expected." Baki always panicked when Gaara vanished without a trace, but Sasori knew that the boy couldn't just spend his nights sitting on his hands and doing nothing. "Tell me if he's not back by mid-morning tomorrow."

She nodded. "Okay." Temari bit her lip and momentarily looked away, before turning her gaze back on him. "Sasori?" Her voice was extremely soft as she took a step forward.

Knowing what she was about to try to do, Sasori, with an unexpected bout of reluctance, closed the door in her face, before settling back down onto the tatami mat.

He didn't get any sleep that night.


	8. ItaTema: Green Eyed Lady

**Title**: Green-Eyed Lady  
**Summary**: Ten years separated their only encounters, but she remained to him the same: remote and distant as a queen, brilliant and strong as the sun.  
**Pairing**: ItaTema  
**Rating**: K  
**Notes**: All I will say is that this _could_ have happened.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The midsummer sunlight poured hot and bright over the park as Itachi went over the taijutsu moves again and again, practicing them, partnerless, in preparation for the final portion of the Chunin Exams.

Itachi would have been lying if he said he wasn't nervous; it was only the first time he had ever taken the exams, but there was so much pressure on him to succeed. His father had coached him mercilessly for the past month and it was clear what Itachi could expect out of Fugaku were he to fail.

As a result, every bit of effort he could was poured into training for the exam that would take place later that afternoon.

"Hello."

Itachi stopped when he heard the soft, accented female voice, and turned around.

Standing with her hand pressed up against a tree was a little girl, maybe two years younger than him. Itachi stopped to stare at her; there was something a bit different about the girl. She had dark blonde hair done up in four pigtails and a deep golden tan, with large, forward green eyes. Itachi got the impression that she was upper class from the lightweight lavender silk kimono she wore. She carried with her the smell of wind and sand.

Itachi realized that the girl was probably a Suna villager visiting for the Chunin Exams.

"Hello." He bowed politely at the waist as his mother had taught him to do when meeting someone for the first time, a quick perfunctory bow.

The girl from Suna tilted her head and smiled. "You're Uchiha Itachi, aren't you? I heard my father talking about you last night."

The young Uchiha nodded cautiously, keeping his face carefully polite. "Yes, I am." The girl's close scrutiny of him made Itachi slightly nervous.

She smiled and nodded, stepping back against the pine tree. "Are you training for the exam?"

"Yes."

Her wide green eyes lit up. "Do you mind if I watch?" A little self-consciously, she added, "I'm going to be entering the Academy soon."

"Of course."

The Sunagakure girl was silent as Itachi continued to go over his taijutsu steps, sitting on the ground in such a way that was clearly practiced, not bothering him as he went through the techniques a few more times.

After what had probably been half an hour, their peace was abruptly disturbed.

"Temari-sama!" A nin with a Suna hitai-ate, cloth veil falling over one eye and a highly irritated facial expression was walking towards them.

The girl, who was apparently called Temari, showed a different side of her then, as she stood up, a noticeably tremulous expression on her small face.

There was insecurity there; Itachi could see it and recognize it, because he saw it as his own. He saw the sharp emotions on Temari's face and remembered when he had felt them himself. Putting another face to the world rather than what they truly felt.

The tall Suna nin came to stand in front of Temari. He seemed caught between anger and relief. "Your father asked me to find you. He's very worried."

Temari frowned. "I doubt he's as worried as you make him out to be."

The single visible, dark eye of the Sand nin narrowed. "Be that as it may, ma'am, I have been asked by your father to find you and bring you to him." He took her hand and began to walk away.

Temari wasted no time in extricating her hand. "I can walk back by myself; I don't need your help to do that," she snapped, unusually commanding for such a young child. "And just give me a minute, Baki."

A small, apologetic smile coming over her small face, Temari turned to Itachi, her dark emerald eyes uncertain, but soon confident again. She bowed, a mirror of how Itachi had a half hour before. "I hope you do well at the exam, Uchiha-san."

"Thank you," Itachi replied, before she walked back to the Sand nin who, not taking any chances, actually plucked her up into his arms before they retreated down the concrete park path.

.

Itachi won his fight during the exam, and was promoted to chunin. That night after supper, Itachi approached Fugaku.

"Father?" Itachi asked as he placed his plate on the kitchen counter. "Did any of the officials from Sunagakure happen to bring their daughter with them?"

Fugaku looked down at him as Shisui sniggered in the background. "Just one," Fugaku answered. "The Kazekage brought his daughter Temari with him to Konoha this year to watch the Chunin Exams. I understand you had an encounter with the girl before the final exam?"

Shisui could restrain himself no longer. "Haha, our favorite little prodigy and the Kazekage's daughter."

Itachi wasn't sure what Shisui found so funny about it, but he still blushed three different shades of red.

That night, he found himself dreaming of Temari's dark green eyes as the Sand nin carried her away.

.

Ten years later, and Itachi's stoic mask had all but consumed him. There was nothing that could evoke strong sensation or emotion in him anymore, not since the day he had seen his joy die with the flickering souls of his parents and his cousin, and all the members of his family.

But one day, far out in the desert wastes, he saw her again.

It was only from a distance; Temari wasn't aware of his presence.

Itachi was surprised and yet not at how the little girl who had come up on him while he was training ten years ago had been shaped by the ten years that laid between.

Temari had grown straight-backed and tall; her dark gold hair was still in pigtails, her skin still honey gold, her deep green eyes still bold and unblinking. She wore black and crimson now instead of soft lavender silk; a long, iron fan was strapped to her back, and yet she stood unbowed.

She had grown hard and steely; the rare soft spots Itachi had seen in her as a child were long gone. Temari had grown into a true desert's child, stark and timeless.

But still, she was happier than he was.

And if the years had proved themselves to be kinder to Temari than they had been to him, Itachi could feel a small spark of happiness, if just for a little while.


	9. KimiKarin: The Kindness of Strangers

**Title**: The Kindness of Strangers**  
Summary**: That was when she offered her arm. Literally.**  
Pairing**: KimiKarin**  
Rating**: K+**  
Notes**: None, except that this is pre-Chunin Exam arc.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Kimimaro found himself stark with terror that the next time he coughed, blood would dribble from his mouth as it had with the last coughing fit.

The windowless room was dark, the lights extinguished; the young Sound nin laid on his back on his cot, his breathing slightly labored as whatever it was Kabuto had given him for his lungs to keep them working well for the time being took effect, then evening out. The cool, bland, almost glassy smile the older boy had given him still lingered on, making the stale air colder, but as much as Kimimaro suspected that every bit of medicine Kabuto had ever given him was nothing more than placebos, it actually seemed to be working this time.

A narrow streak of light fell over his weakened eyes (Kimimaro flinched and shakily raised an arm over his face) as the door creaked open.

At first, Kimimaro sat up, thinking Kabuto had come back, but realized that the person standing in the doorway was much smaller than Kabuto.

A young girl with glasses, probably no older than eleven or twelve, slid hesitantly into the room, closing the door behind her and lighting one of the candles one the chest of drawers with a flick of small, pale fingers.

She was quite short, probably only a hairsbreadth taller than Tayuya, and had long hair that, in full light, was probably an even brighter shade of red than Tayuya's. She introduced herself with a quick dip of the head and a few short words. "Hello. Are you Kimimaro-san?"

Kimimaro nodded, wondering who the girl was; he hadn't seen her before. "Yes."

Taking that as encouragement, she stepped forward. "My name's Karin. I heard you were sick, and I think I might be able to help."

Kimimaro frowned, wondering what on Earth she meant by that, as the girl stepped forward, and began to roll up her sleeve. Again, he wondered who Karin was, what she was doing there; he had never seen her before, deep in the depths of Sound.

Of course, all wonders about the girl's background were shelved and dropped in favor of pure, unadulterated shock when Kimimaro got a good look at her bare arm.

It was covered in small, pale crescent-shaped scars. Human bite marks. Kimimaro's incredulous light green gaze rose from Karin's arm to her face.

She behaved as if there was nothing strange about the fact that her arm was covered in scars from bite marks, and Karin actually glared at Kimimaro's sucker-punched expression. "Bite me."

At that moment, Kimimaro seriously considered investing his remaining strength and endangering his present health by bodily throwing the girl out of the room. But her voice filled up the air again soon enough, and Kimimaro decided, for whatever reason, to just hear her out.

"I'm from a clan in Kusa no Kuni," Karin explained. "Our kekkei genkai allows us to heal people by having them bite us." She formed a sympathetic smile. "I know, it sounds weird, but I'm telling the truth, I promise."

Kimimaro sighed inwardly, and eyed the arm. He wondered how often Karin bathed.

Well, there was nothing to lose from it, and if it worked, it worked. He bit down on the pale skin of her arm.

Surprisingly, Kimimaro did start to feel better when he bit down on Karin's arm. He only stopped when he heard a small whimper from her and realized she was in pain.

She was in pain and trying to hide it, rolling her sleeve down again, her face noticeably paler than before.

"Are you alright?" Kimimaro felt well enough to stand up. Normally he wouldn't show much concern for the pain of others—nin accepted pain as normal and commonplace—but the girl was showing pain as a result of helping him, and even Kimimaro couldn't be unmoved by that.

Karin's smile was strained. "I'm fine. I hope you get to feeling better."

She closed the door behind her, and swallowed Kimimaro up in darkness again.


	10. ItaTen: Killing Field

**Title**: Killing Field**  
Summary**: He told her to follow him.**  
Pairing**: ItaTen**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: Non-massacre AU; funny, most non-massacre AUs involve ItaSaku. To Lil' DeiDei and his/her sister (I'm sorry; I don't know the user's gender), you are in luck because I happen to like ItaTen too. Feel free to check out my separate oneshots _Blind Man's Sight _and _River Stone._**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Blood dripped from a leaf on the oak tree, the glittering net of blood a crimson spider web stretching out in gory magnificence from tree to tree, to the hard-packed earth, to the blood-soaked, earthen clearing, to the fallen ANBU and fallen Iwa nin who laid scattered like broken porcelain dolls across the screaming landscape.

The sun was starting to set, a blue sunset instead of what would have been an appropriate red sunset. The crystalline sapphire tone of the sky belied what had taken place beneath it.

Itachi was the only one left standing, as he surveyed his fallen men with forced impassiveness. There could be no softness in him, not if he wanted to stay sane after the horrifying sight of seeing his men and the men of other squads culled like wheat at the coming harvest, the long scythe the kunai of enemy nin.

His feet hitting the hard-packed ground cast unnaturally loud sounds into the eerie, reverent silence; small dust devils nipped at his heels as Itachi began to walk away. Konoha was hours away, and there was nowhere he wanted to be but home.

Then, a soft voice intruded on Itachi's retreat.

"U-chiha-taicho…" The feminine voice reached up and rent at Itachi's soul, as he whirled around, his uncovered eyes widening, as they met a pair of brown eyes.

Her porcelain mask, that of a hawk, had been shattered away during the fight, and long brown tendrils of hairs were escaping from the single drawstring cloth she bound her hair under.

Wide brown eyes were dark with desperation as she stretched out a bloody hand towards him. "Uchiha-taicho…"

With great reluctance, Itachi forced himself to turn his back on her. With a final concession to the bleeding of his heart, he murmured, "If you are so desperate to live, then follow me."

It was an empty command. Itachi expected to hear no soft footsteps behind him.

And he didn't.

.

That night, nearly half a mile from the sight of death, exhausted and drained of all will to walk, Itachi stoked the small fire he had lit and waited for morning to come. He did not sleep. Could not sleep. Itachi was afraid of who he would meet when he closed his eyes, if the souls of the men he had left behind would reproach him for failing to protect them.

A branch cracked, and Itachi stood up, wary and reaching for a kunai. Heavy breathing reached his ears.

And he felt his heart drop when he saw her stumble into the soft ruddy glow of the fire.

Brown eyes met Itachi's deep black ones. Her mouth trembled, as she formed words that stumbled and cluttered in the black night air.

"You said…you said…"

Itachi leapt up, and barely managed to catch her before she fell, passing out in his arms.

Still cradling her the way a father would his baby or a groom would his new bride, Itachi kicked dust over the fire, and did what he should have done from the beginning. He _carried_ her back to Konoha, rather than having her follow him.

When new men were being assembled under him, Uchiha Itachi-taicho demanded only that the girl he had saved, the girl who had saved herself, be allowed to serve under him.


	11. KabuShiz: Averted Exsanguination

**Title**: Averted Exsanguination**  
Summary**: Among the other questions, she decided not to ask how he knew where she lived.**  
Pairing**: KabuShiz**  
Rating**: K+**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"I suppose you're going to want an explanation for this."

"_Yes_, I will."

Shizune was having an…eventful night, which was to say one that had at some point threatened to put her in an early grave via heart attack. The cause of the aforementioned, narrowly averted heart attack was lying on his back on her couch after somehow clambering in through her kitchen window, lying still as she attempted to staunch the heavy bleeding on his torso.

There was blood dripping on her hands and splattered across the front of her yukata; _Another perfectly good set of clothes, ruined_. The iron smell rose noxiously in her nostrils, but Shizune ignored it for the time being and focused on the task at hand.

Kabuto's face was waxen pale; his chakra levels had somehow dropped to dangerous lows, which would explain why he was in this condition and unable to heal himself. And he was also being infuriatingly taciturn about how he had come to be in this state. Shizune could imagine a dozen different scenarios, but preferred to be able to tack down just one.

"How did this happen?" The initial shock and later irritation was finally giving way to genuine concern, as Shizune finally got the bleeding under control and pressed a wave of emerald healing chakra towards his chest.

He looked away, towards the sofa cushion and away from Shizune's scrutinizing gaze. "Does that really matter?" Kabuto asked, slightly uncomfortable, and Shizune glared at him.

"Please. I'm saving your skin right now (In more ways than one). I'd like to at least know how you got into this situation." Her voice was sharp, but her brown eyes showed worry, and after a few moments in which he seemed to be formulating a coherent response, Kabuto spoke.

Shizune had drawn the blinds shut over every window in the house, turned off most of the lights except for the ceiling lamp in the living room. They were guaranteed their privacy.

"I had gone into the nearest town for medical supplies; we were running low again. And, while there, I had the misfortune of coming across nin who recognized my face."

That was as much as she would get out of him, but Shizune was used to cagey, evasive explanations of injury from patients admitted to the accidental injury ward and nin who had been injured on missions. It was, unfortunately, a fact of life, and one that, while frustrating, Shizune had come to accept over the years.

"You have to understand." There was something of a teasing note in his voice as he looked up at her and smiled. "This is quite embarrassing."

"Yes, I can imagine." Shizune lowered her hand. "Okay. You're healed to the point that you won't exsanguinate on my living room couch. But I don't think you're going to be in any condition to leave for a while."

Kabuto nodded. "About a day or so."

Shizune looked down at her feet self-consciously, from her position kneeling in front of the couch. "What will you tell…" she ventured hesitantly, the back of her neck prickling uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about that," Kabuto snapped. More gingerly, he added, "Anything else?"

She nodded, glad to be off the subject. "Yes. Not that I'm not glad to see you, but why did you come to me?" Shizune decided not to ask how the hell Kabuto knew where she lived in the first place; the answer would probably not be one she wanted to hear.

At that, he started staring up at the ceiling, his voice calm and even. "Because I knew that whatever was wrong, you could fix it."


	12. GaaHanabi: Strangers Bound Together

**Title**: Strangers Bound Together**  
Summary**: Ways to say "I love you" #3: When forced into a marriage with a girl you don't know, apologize for getting her into this mess.**  
Pairing**: GaaHanabi**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: Hanabi is sixteen in this; Gaara, twenty-one.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hiashi said nothing to her, merely giving her a blank, stern stare. Hanabi didn't want to hear him talk, anyway. He was the one who had orchestrated this.

Hinata hugged her sister to her fiercely; though Hinata was five years older, Hanabi had grown taller than her sister, nearly three inches. Hinata had whispered tearful promises of visits and letters, but no reassurances. A bag being transferred to Suna bore Hinata's gifts to her: two gorgeous silk kimonos, one snowy white spangled all over with silver, the other a deep, vivid crimson speckled with gold sakura blossoms.

Neji had been stoic, though different than Hiashi. He put a hand on Hanabi's shoulder and nodded to her; he clearly meant to encourage, to convey his respect. To Hanabi, nothing from Neji could have meant more.

Tenten…surprised Hanabi. They had never been the best of friends, though they had learned to be civil and occasionally companionable. But Tenten leaned down slightly to hug Hanabi, and murmured encouragement in Hanabi's ear. _"He's a good man. You don't have to worry."_ When they pulled away, Hanabi realized that the softness in Tenten's eyes was genuine.

Moegi wished her good luck. The girls were more rivals than friends, but Moegi genuinely regretted that Hanabi was leaving. Hanabi punched Moegi's arm in a friendly sort of way and told the girl to actually get promoted to jonin the next time she took the exams.

Konohamaru shook her hand and, like Moegi, wished her luck. He was trying not to show his emotions, but he clearly regretted her leaving. He asked her to come back and visit some time.

Udon looked sad, until Hanabi stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

All those memories were flying away from her as Hanabi stood, the desert sand beating across her white kimono top and black pants, the desert wind whipping her long brown hair across her face, tendrils of heat teasing her face as the sun went down.

"Are you Hyuuga Hanabi?" A quiet, slightly hoarse voice met Hanabi's ears as a young man stepped out from behind the shadow of a smooth, stone building. She looked around, as he stepped forward and bowed politely.

He was probably about the same age as her sister, barely out of his teens. The man had red hair, very fair skin—an oddity for desert dwellers; _he must be an Akasuna_, Hanabi thought, having heard that members of that clan tended to have red hair and fair skin—and pale green eyes. He wasn't very tall (probably only had a couple of inches on Hanabi), and was dressed in nondescript, dark garb.

"Yes, I am." Over the years, Hanabi had learned to show dignity in every situation that she could, and even though she hated every facet of this "arranged marriage" she was being forced into, she wasn't about to show her skin and make a fool of herself.

"Are you not aware of where to go?" the young man asked quietly. There was nothing of a mockery in his voice, and Hanabi could respond without bristling.

"I'm afraid so." Hanabi bowed her head ruefully, before staring up at the canopy of white buildings, of spires and flat roofs. "This is all so strange to me."

The man nodded and beckoned for Hanabi to follow him. "Please follow me, then."

As they walked through the dusk-laden, surprisingly empty streets, Hanabi murmured, more for her benefit than his, "Guess I've got to go meet the Kazekage now, huh?"

At that, pale green eyes looked at her like she had said something very strange. "I am the Kazekage," he murmured, tilting his head at her as though seeing her in a different light.

"What?" Hanabi exclaimed; remembering the years of training in etiquette she had received, she bowed quickly, brushing her hair out of her face. "I didn't expect you to be so…young," she admitted lamely. _At least I'm not marrying an old man_, the young Hyuuga silently conceded.

The Kazekage nodded, his pale face softening slightly. "I'm sorry about this." Hanabi looked up in shock at those words. "This wasn't my idea."

Hanabi smiled tentatively, a lopsided, lame thing. "Maybe we can learn to get along?" she ventured.

A tiny suggestion of a smile met her request. "Perhaps."


	13. PeinKon: Persephone

**Title**: Persephone**  
Summary**: She was Persephone, beauty given form.**  
Pairing**: PeinKon**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: If anyone's comparable to Persephone and Hades in Naruto, it's Konan and Pein.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Her beauty was singular, extraordinary, unique, and utterly enticing. She was the fairest of all mortal women, a nymph given solid form, and for a time she was innocent, happy in her sheltered life, forming flowers out of her origami paper.

But there was always an end to happiness, an extinguishing of the lights as darkness came overhead and the moon rose out of the water. The dark God saw her and loved her, spiriting her away into darkness.

She was Persephone, locked in darkness. Her fall into the dark had been swift and short; she had been taken there, and could not leave. She had eaten the pomegranate seeds, one by one, but Demeter could not save her, for she had devoured twelve, not four, and there would be no spring and summer to autumn's reds and winter's whites.

She was Persephone, whom the dark God loved. She had been Kore, whose beauty and sweet nature had been her downfall. She was the Queen of the Underworld, who roamed the dark halls and deep tunnels, until all knew her name and gave her way.

She was Konan, the Leader's human heart. And as Persephone, she could not leave the darkness in which she dwelt.


	14. SasuKarin: Silver Medal

**Title**: Silver Medal**  
Summary**: Karin was sick and tired of being treated that way. Sasuke decided to do something about it.**  
Pairing**: SasuKarin**  
Rating**: T, for swearing and mentions of tongue-kissing (Which I find slightly gross).**  
Notes**: Real world AU.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

They had an excellent view of Sakura and her nameless date from where they sat in the restaurant, Sasuke gawking at them both but trying not to be seen by them, and Karin was trying to get Sasuke's attention. It _was_ supposed to be a legitimate date this time; Sasuke had promised.

"So, what's this guy's name again?" Since trying to get him to pay attention to her the last time hadn't worked, Karin had decided to (somewhat) go along with Sasuke's scheme of spying on his ex-girlfriend and her new beau. At least, that was what Sasuke thought; for all he knew, she might actually be genuinely interested in a bout of voyeurism towards Haruno Sakura's love life.

Sasuke didn't answer her, barely hearing Karin's softly spoken question. She was wearing a close-fitting, long-sleeved dress that he admitted looked very good on her but wasn't really paying a whole lot of attention to how she looked at the moment.

Sakura and her date were both looking off of the menu (It was a very high class Italian restaurant, with low, dim lighting and richly furnished tables and booths). The young man said something, and Sakura giggled, the glittering ruby earrings dripping like blood from her ear lobes trembling and sparkling, refracting the light in brilliant fashion. Sasuke felt his face sour as he watched the happy scene.

"What will you have?" The waiter was addressing them; Sasuke left Karin to fill the orders.

"I'll have the balsamic salmon with angel hair pasta," Karin answered. She looked over at Sasuke, frowning. "Sasuke?" She leaned over and shook his shoulder. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke took a moment to look back and glare at her; Karin rolled her eyes in response. "He'll have the same," she supplied for the waiter, who was handed their menus and left.

They ate in silence, Karin's face growing increasingly despondent, though, all the while, Sasuke didn't notice that. He was too busy staring at Sakura and her date, barely eating anything.

If Karin didn't try to talk to him anymore, Sasuke didn't worry about that. If anything, he found it a relief, since he wasn't a fan of conversation and, in his mind, he had more important things to do than talk to her.

Sakura and her date finished first. As they got up from their table, Sasuke realized with horror that they would pass right by his and Karin's table, and that Sakura would not be too amused to see him there.

"Damn it," Sasuke swore under his breath. He looked up sharply at Karin. "We have to hide."

Karin took in the situation in a split second, looked past Sasuke's head and saw Sakura. She started to lean over. "Kiss me," she whispered urgently.

"What?"

But it was too late to back out. Without warning, Karin grabbed the lapel of Sasuke's coat and pulled him forward. Their mouths crashed against each other, as Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. It…wasn't bad, he had to admit. At least Karin wasn't trying to tongue-kiss him like Sakura always had.

She finally let go long after the last glimpse of pink hair had disappeared from the door.

After catching his breath, Sasuke shook his head and stared incredulously at Karin, who looked slightly dazed but immensely satisfied. "You enjoyed that a little too much," he told her flatly.

To this, Karin shook a finger at him and grinned. "And you can't deny that you enjoyed it at least a little bit."

When they got out into the parking lot, Sakura was long gone.

Sasuke shook his head and snarled. "Where do you suppose they've gone? Sakura loves that movie theater downtown, and if we hurry, we can still catch the eight o'clock showing of that movie she wanted to see, and—"

"Sasuke, no!"

He turned around and saw Karin glaring at him, her face exceptionally pale. Sasuke was silent as Karin launched into a rant. "I am sick of this. All we do when you take me places is trail Sakura and that boyfriend of hers." She shook her head, face contorting into an expression of genuine pain. "I'm not anyone's silver medal, Sasuke! And I refuse to be treated like one." She started to walk away. "I'm going home."

Sasuke stared after her for a moment, numb. He wasn't sure what was going on.

Then it hit him.

Karin was walking away.

He could _not_ let that happen.

"Karin! Come back!"

He finally caught up to her, grabbing her shoulder with one hand.

"Karin," Sasuke gasped, struggling to get his breath. Once composed, he said, softly, "You're not my silver medal."

She whirled round on the ball of her foot. Karin's crimson eyes were flaring with indignation. "Prove it," she challenged.

Only one thing left to do. Sasuke grabbed her upper arms and kissed her roughly.

For a moment, Sasuke wondered if he was going to be regretting this later.

_What the hell._ Karin wasn't half as saccharine as Sakura was, anyway.


	15. NejiTen: Hawk

**Title**: Hawk**  
Summary**: Her ANBU mask was that of a hawk.**  
Pairing**: NejiTen**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: Woohoo, my shortest one yet! Come on, people; I know you're reading this, and I'd like to hear from you, if at all possible. I do allow anonymous reviews**.  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

When Tenten was admitted into ANBU, her mask took the form of a hawk.

Neji found himself staring at the porcelain mask for hours on end when Tenten was not on duty, turning it over in his hands with delicate care.

The hawk was farseeing.

The hawk caught its prey with deadly accuracy.

The hawk was a killer.

But to Neji, the hawk was so much more.


	16. GaaIno: Silent Words

**Title**: Silent Words**  
Summary**: Sometimes, it was better to say nothing at all.**  
Pairing**: GaaIno**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: This takes place during the aftermath of the Sasuke-retrieval arc.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

She was crying. The little blonde kunoichi was sitting on a park bench, crying her eyes out, her face red and puffy, her deep black mascara running in ugly, purplish trails down her cheeks.

Gaara didn't know why she was crying. And knowing why didn't matter; only the knowledge that she was weeping carried any weight.

Shinobi lived every day of their lives surrounded by death. It was supposed to be such a commonplace thing that, eventually, it no longer meant anything to anyone. But she was still young, as he was, and reality had not yet sunk in.

The little kunoichi was still young enough to cry.

Gaara had no idea what to say to her, as he sat down on the bench beside her, pale eyes scrutinizing, peering. There were no words that could assuage the depths of her agony, no words that he knew how to form that could even try to soothe.

He had no experience in empty words and useless platitudes.

But it was alright, Gaara thought, as, tentatively, he slid a hand onto her shoulder.

Because sometimes, words didn't work, and silence could do all his talking for him.


	17. KakaShiz: Shadow and Senbon

**Title**: Shadow and Senbon**  
Summary**: She was out of sync with the present day.**  
Pairing**: KakaShiz**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Shizune is a rarity, an anomaly, a living anachronism.

Kakashi doesn't know anyone but Shizune living in the Leaf village who soaks their veins with poison anymore (He wonders, often wonders, if her blood is still the same color as his, deep crimson and viscous, or if a touch of aconite, a hint of oleander, has turned it some other shade).

For such a seemingly single-faceted, static woman, she has her secrets. It's clear in the rustling of ebony linen and the clinking sound of senbon striking together that follows her wherever she goes, and in the way her smiles don't show teeth. The shadows tantalize Kakashi, as he follows closer and closer behind and her dark brown eyes turn on him, maybe encouraging, maybe not.

It's a bit like watching a ghost filter through his life. She moves on and on, never waiting for anyone to catch up to her or pass beyond her.

In short, Shizune, to Kakashi, belongs to another time. She is a kunoichi of the age when kunoichi did not advertise their presence in every day life, a kunoichi of the age when killers were silent and healers were unobtrusive.

And truthfully, Kakashi likes it better that way, because Shizune is also a kunoichi from the age when women were truly fascinating, and the quiet ones far more interesting than anyone else.


	18. IbikiIno: Little Finger

**Title**: Little Finger**  
Summary**: Life in the Interrogation unit wasn't easy, but Ino had a plan.**  
Pairing**: IbikiIno**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: Suddenly, I had an image of this, and while slightly disturbing, it had too much appeal for me to pass up.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Life in the Interrogation unit wasn't easy.

Ino smiled as she sat in front of her vanity, dabbing crimson ochre across her plump, pouting lips. Her body had been washed to perfection, though left devoid of the normal fragrant, exotic perfume. There was no makeup on her pale, clear skin; as she had grown, she no longer needed it. Her rich purple clothes, scant in nature, clung to the generous but tasteful curves of her body, exposing a great deal but not too much. Some needed to be left to the imagination for what she had in mind to work.

The Interrogation unit was a cutthroat world, and everyone needed a leg-up. Everyone needed whatever advantage they could attain, sneak away or steal.

And Ino had the best advantage any young kunoichi could ask for. Her body.

And she would use that body, to her full advantage. And get enjoyment out of doing it, too.

Life in the Interrogation unit wasn't easy, but Ino had a plan.

By the end of the month, Ino was hell bent and determined that she would have Morino Ibiki wrapped around her little finger. By any means necessary.


	19. KabuShiz: Sense of Normalcy

**Title**: Sense of Normalcy**  
Summary**: There was only one thing that really made Shizune feel normal.**  
Pairing**: KabuShiz**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Shizune rarely felt normal.

Her life was a jumble of dysfunctional relationships and improvised days. She dashed all over the place, trying to find Tsunade to get her to do the paperwork, did the paperwork herself sometimes, worked at the hospital three days out of the week, trained Ino, and in the end, often came home too exhausted to eat or even undress before dragging her feet to the small bedroom and kneeling down on the tatami mat, sleeping until the crack of dawn when she had to do it all over again.

It had always been that way. Traveling with Tsunade, being around Tsunade, working with Tsunade had had the inevitable effect of leaving Shizune feeling like a permanent teenager in one important way: she didn't feel like she fit in her skin.

Her friends, colleagues, comrades were all so foreign to her. With most of them, Shizune just couldn't relate to their lives because hers had been so different; the sensation of a sedentary existence was strange and exotic to one who had lived on the road since the age of four.

All the things that the people around her put so much store by were empty and hollow to her. She didn't understand the importance of earning wages, the significance of going out with friends every Friday night and she couldn't comprehend why, for families, eating supper around the table together was so vital.

Shizune didn't stop to contemplate how deeply ironic it was that the only place where she felt truly normal was in the arms of a man whom she had no reason to feel anything but hate for who greeted her with a smile as he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her neck.

"So silent?" he whispered into her ear; Shizune felt her heart jolt as hot breath hit her skin. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She was too busy smiling, too busy drinking in the moment, to care about anything else.


	20. SasuKarin: Black Dress

**Title**: Black Dress**  
Summary**: Sasuke was suddenly made aware of a slightly alarming truth. In black, Karin was _hot_.**  
Pairing**: SasuKarin**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Karin smiled brightly at them, twirling around for their benefit in uncharacteristically girly fashion. "Well…How do I look?"

Suigetsu smirked, folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. "Looks like our little nuisance is all grown up."

"You look very nice, Karin," Juugo assured her.

Sasuke could only gape.

The last time they had been in a town, Karin had insisted upon buying a black silk cheongsam she'd seen in a shop. Suigetsu and Sasuke had opposed it, but Juugo, surprisingly, defended Karin, and in the end, they won out.

Onyx silk hugged her thin body like a glove now. The dress had long sleeves and a knee-length skirt that was tight over her upper thighs and waist. Her long, white, slender legs were shown off from the knee down; her legs, unlike her arms, were unblemished by white crescent scars. The modest yet slinky dress showed off what small, girlish curves Karin's slender body had to perfection.

Actually, Sasuke wasn't only gaping; he was _staring._

Karin noticed. "Wellll?" she trilled, twirling a lock of her hair coquettishly.

Sasuke couldn't have said anything intelligible if he'd wanted to.


	21. IbikiIno: Blandishments

**Title**: Blandishments**  
Summary**: She was really laying it on thick.**  
Pairing**: IbikiIno**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: This would be a continuation of _Little Finger._**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Ibiki briefly wondered if he should tell Inoichi that his teenaged daughter was trying in earnest to seduce him.

The girl had spirit, he had to give her that. And more of a stomach by half than most of her kunoichi peers; those little girls Ino hung out with, the pink-haired medic, the Hyuuga heiress, and possible the weapons mistress as well would either have not given Ibiki the time of day or been too intimidated by him to approach him in such a manner.

Ino was the embodiment of sensuality among the kunoichi of Konohagakure. Ibiki couldn't remember the last time a kunoichi had been ready and willing to seduce her way into a decent position in the Interrogation unit, just for the heck of it. Ino was singular among the young girls in the shinobi ranks in that she actually wasn't afraid to use her body to get what she wanted (When, _When_, Ibiki despaired, had the Konoha kunoichi become such prudes?).

She was very skilled it was true, but there was something missing. Ino was…unpracticed. Ibiki blamed this on the fact that the only two women in Ino's life who could have taught her how to seduce and pleasure a man was the straight-laced mother of her teammate and her shy, modest medical trainer, neither of whom had had the best experience with seduction missions.

Yamanaka Ino was practically throwing herself at him. She was good at it, but she didn't know where to stop. She lacked subtlety, didn't know how to tone down her advances, had no basis for comparison to gauge how far was far enough.

Ibiki didn't mind. She was young; there was still time. Unlike Haruno Sakura, whose looks would grow less vivid as she grew into adulthood, unlike Hyuuga Hinata who would grow more stately but not more beautiful, and unlike Tenten who had never been beautiful to begin with but was simply become more of a woman, Yamanaka Ino possessed that which became more enticing as she ceased being a girl and grew into womanhood.

Ino was worth teaching. And Ibiki was an old hand at the teaching of such things. The girl had expressed herself willing, and for Ibiki, it was a diversion. It had been a long time since such a lovely young girl actually in possession of a multi-faceted mind had shown such enthusiasm for the craft.

Inoichi didn't have to know. It was his fault for coddling his daughter so much, anyway.


	22. NaruSakuSasu: Shower

**Title**: Shower**  
Summary**: Naruto wasn't the one Sakura wanted to comfort her.**  
Pairing**: NaruSakuSasu (A love triangle, not a threesome)**  
Rating**: K+**  
Notes**: This isn't half as straightforward as you think it is. And for those of you who were expecting something…_different_ out of an entry entitled "Shower", you should know by now that I don't write those sorts of things. Shame on you. :)**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

She had just gotten out of the shower; it was plainly apparent.

The smell of water still clung all around her, fresh and sweet. The hot water cascading over her made her fair skin gleam, smooth and tender. Her short, fine rose-colored hair glistened iridescently.

Sakura was wearing the soft, enveloping white bathrobe he had given her at her last birthday. She had an odd habit, Naruto knew, of putting the bathrobe on over the towel she wound over her naked skin when first stepping out, and pulling the towel out from under once she laced the sash at her waist and secured the robe on her body.

And just as always, when she stepped out of the shower, her eyes were red-rimmed and raw, half-lidded and heavy as though there were invisible sandbags pulled over them.

In the sunlit living room, Sakura and Naruto stopped and stared at each other. Naruto took in her pale, drawn face, wound over the finely sculpted bones of her face so tight that she looked like a face carved in marble. He drank in her tense, uneasy stance and the miserable twist of her lips, that she had carried for weeks now.

Naruto swallowed the bitter pill of his own pain, and the even greater pain of seeing her suffer so acutely.

But when Naruto stepped forward with the intention of enfolding her in his arms, she pushed him away, wordless, face contorting, and left in a flutter of synthetic fibers after stepping into her clothes. Her wet hair still created a deeper color crimson on the back of her shirt.

She was going to Sasuke. It was Sasuke Sakura wanted comfort from, Sasuke she wanted to see, Sasuke whom she believed would understand.

Or maybe Sakura was just afraid that Naruto would notice what he had already known for weeks, the secret she carried in the center of her body.


	23. NaruHina: Yuki onna

**Title**: Yuki-onna**  
Summary**: There was snow in her hair, like a spider web veil.**  
Pairing**: NaruHina**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: A yuki-onna is a Japanese spirit; the name literally translates to "snow woman". Visit the wikipedia article if you want more information.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

There was snow in her hair. It fell over her long ebony hair like links of delicate white lace, shining like stars in a deep night sky. Like a spider web veil, or a diadem made of spun silver. She roamed through the snow like she had been born to it, as though the snow had always been over Konoha and she had always been ventured through the altered forests, leaving no indentations in the snow where she walked.

Naruto stared at Hinata and smiled, almost incredulously, gaping at her in such a way that he wondered how he had never seen her like this before, never seen her for what she was.

A spark of concern couldn't help but rise in the frigid air when he realized that Hinata was only wearing an ivory silk furisode, haori, tabi and geta, but Naruto remembered that silk tended to keep people very warm, and decided that Hinata didn't seem to be in danger of freezing to death that day, so he pushed his fears back down.

The tips of her long, trailing sleeves brushed the snow, leaving little trails in the snowdrift where her geta would not. Hinata smiled wistfully, her large lavender eyes flicking from snowflake to snowflake as they fluttered down to earth. She would not try to catch them on her tongue as her sister still occasionally did. She was instead simply content to observe, as they glistened in the weak sunlight and formed myriad crystalline shapes.

Standing behind the tree, Naruto bit his lip and shored up every bit of courage he had to step out from behind, catch up to her and make his move.

His feet hit the ground lightly, though much heavier than her own footsteps, leaving holes in the snow behind him that filled up slowly with fresh snowfall and did not show damage after ten minutes.

Hinata turned around when she heard Naruto running towards her. She smiled shyly, and Naruto wondered if the redness in her face wasn't from cold. "Hello, Naruto-kun," she murmured in her soft voice, without the stutter but still barely audible.

It was at that moment that Naruto proceeded to deliver the _worst_ pick-up line in Konohagakure history.

"Hinata-chan, are you a yuki-onna?"


	24. NejiTema: Silk Handkerchief

**Title**: Silk Handkerchief**  
Summary**: As Temari said, Neji was just going to have to trust her.**  
Pairing**: NejiTema**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: This is post-time skip.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Neji was all too aware of the danger he was in in that country. Acutely aware, in fact. He spent most of his waking moments in Mizu no Kuni expecting to hear the siren song of a shuriken at any moment, see attackers out of the back of his head, and it was nerve-wracking. He couldn't sleep, could barely relax for any amount of time.

"There's nothing for it," his companion muttered, adjusting her wide linen obi with the sort of prim meticulousness he had come to expect from her. "We're going to have to go into Kirigakure if we want to carry out this mission."

It wasn't exactly clear to Neji why the Leaf and Sand villages were collaborating on this mission, or why they had assigned him to work with Temari, but after a while, he stopped complaining. The young woman was nothing if not sensible and good to have around in a fight; both her defensive and offensive capacities were superb. And she, Neji reluctantly admitted, good company, a good companion to have around a nighttime campfire.

At her assertion, Neji shook his head violently. "Temari-san, I can't go into Kirigakure. We'd give ourselves away in a second, and for me it would be suicide."

They were dressed as regular villagers; Temari had made disgruntled complaints about the restrictiveness of her kimono from day one, though Neji didn't see how it was all that different from the black kimono she normally wore. They were posing as a young married couple, in fact. It was a matter of convenience, but one that was making Neji increasingly uncomfortable, though Temari seemed to neither notice his discomfiture nor match it with her own.

Up to that point, he and Temari had passed through tiny, remote islands with thatched villages, where there were only civilians who had never seen the Byakugan before, let alone possessed the capability of recognizing it. They had gotten through by claiming that Neji was blind, and he had gone through the process of being led around everywhere by Temari and being clucked over sympathetically by the village women and nodded condescendingly at by the village men. The children would stop and stare at his strange, blank eyes for a moment before losing interest and going back to their work and their games. It had been a trying masquerade to play, but worth it because they were always guaranteed a room at the inn.

But now, they were at the very door of Kirigakure, the bastion of anti-kekkei genkai hysteria. They stood at the threshold of a village where the nin _would_ recognize Neji's Byakugan for what it was. While life had never been terribly kind to Neji, he had no particular desire to die, especially not in one of the many ways a sadistic Kiri nin could supply.

Deep emerald green eyes glared at Neji the moment those words left his mouth. "Baka," Temari hissed, voice caustically curling over the words. "Our target lives in Kirigakure. We have to go in there eventually."

The words felt like a chastising rod to the back of his wrist, and were just as injurious. "Do you remember what happened to the _last_ nin who went into Kiri who had a kekkei genkai?" Neji demanded; said nin had actually been a Hyuuga, if he remembered correctly. "They're _still_ finding pieces of him all over the countryside!"

Her glaring eyes became strangely challenging. "Are you so afraid to die?" Temari questioned him, lips forming an incredibly thin line. "This is a mission, just like any other. Nin die on missions every day. That's our birthright, and you're telling me that a kunai to the heart scares you enough to back out on a mission, to disobey orders?"

"We're not likely to accomplish the mission if we're captured, tortured and killed!" Neji flared.

Temari frowned, sitting down on a heavy rock. She cupped her chin in her hand pensively. As far as Neji could tell, she was trying to think up a solution to the situation they were in.

Finally, after a few minutes, as thunder again started to threaten over the land with dense clouds and a changing in the wind, Temari seemed to have a solution on hand.

She drew a long white handkerchief out of the front of her kimono. Temari dangled it in front of him, saying, "Put this over your eyes."

Neji frowned at her uncomprehendingly. "Excuse me?"

Temari gave him the sort of look just screamed that she thought he was an idiot. "Come on, Hyuuga. You're supposed to be a prodigy." She formed a slightly teasing smile. "You should have figured it out by now."

It dawned on him. "No." Neji pointed a finger at her. "Absolutely not."

"Hyuuga, we have to finish this mission. The cloth's thick; as long as you don't activate the Byakugan, no one will notice the chakra surge, and you'll be alright."

Neji accepted the handkerchief. It smelled like it had spent a great deal of time in a wooden chest of desert spices. _Odd. She doesn't wear perfume._

"I'll be walking around blind," Neji murmured, wondering if this was how his father had felt before stepping into the abyss.

Temari smiled at him, the curl of her lips strangely comforting. "Well, you're just going have to trust me, aren't you?"

When Neji thought about it, as he wrapped the handkerchief around his eyes, he could identify the fragrances that clung to the soft silk fabric.

Frankincense.

Myrrh.

And aloe.


	25. KakaSaku: Between Sheets

**Title**: Between Sheets**  
Summary**: It was more difficult to face each other afterwards than coming to the bed in the first place had ever been.**  
Pairing**: KakaSaku**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The morning after was always the hardest part.

Whether the night had been spent in broken slumber, their legs curled together and their breathing hollow as they ran away from their haunting nightmares, or in wakefulness, intertwined like tree roots, waking up and facing each other was a process harder than getting to the bed and all that it entailed had ever been.

Kakashi had pulled the mask back up over his face long before the sun broke over the surface of the sky and Sakura could, in any amount of certainty, see what his face looked like. Maybe one day he would trust her enough to drag it down long enough for her to catch a glimpse of whatever shadows and secrets he hid beneath form-fitting black linen, but that day had yet to come, and Sakura had learned patience the way a child learned to swim in a whirlpool. There was no use in fighting the current.

And she was always fully dressed long before the sun rose, as though any instance of nakedness shamed them both. Her apron would be smooth and unwrinkled, her collar straight and pristine.

They would try to forget what they had done the night before, even though there were times when the brief instances of pleasure was all that sustained them and those rough times were growing closer and closer together. They would try to eradicate the memories of what they had said, efface the memories of whispers and gasps, to the point that they almost couldn't remember it themselves.

There was pain found there, as well as pleasure, and they both saw shadows of others in each other's faces, even as they thought of new lives where there was no shadows to the contours of their faces and they wouldn't have phantom bodies lying between them as they slept.

It was easier to forget.

But Kakashi always regretted it, as Sakura walked away, and he heard the phantom rustling of linen bed sheets following her footsteps.

Because memory of her during the day was in some ways better than oblivion found within her at night.


	26. ItaShiz: Ghost

**Title**: Ghost**  
Summary**: Itachi prayed she wouldn't haunt him when night fell again.**  
Pairing**: ItaShiz**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

That was how he first saw her, gliding across the battlefield-turned-graveyard at the red dusk, rooting amongst the unburied corpses for any sign of a survivor. Black linen rustled, filling his ears with a strange sound that was almost music yet not quite it. She was silent, not speaking a word to the cool air or to him, and he preferred it that way, relishing the silence.

The girl, whoever she was, did not notice Itachi where he stood, and he preferred it that way. Her short, ragged black hair fell over her face, obscuring her features as, silently, gracefully, she would turn over bloody jackets in her hands, collect weapons and hitai-ate upon hitai-ate, only to discard them like worthless trash, her long hands withdrawing into the deep black of her yukata.

A medic, or just a woman, trying to make her way amongst the dead and scorning the company of the living that night.

Just a moment looking away, a spare blink was enough for her to be gone, and Itachi frowned and stared at the place where she had been.

At nightfall, he wondered who the woman was, what she had been doing there. He had come about the field by accident and had no idea who the combatants were, and she wore no village insignia to identify herself.

At midnight, Itachi began to wonder if what he had seen was really a woman at all, or maybe just some specter whose soul cleaved to the land.

At daybreak, Itachi decided that she had just been a ghost, and prayed she wouldn't haunt him when night fell again.


	27. ItaTen: Waiting Game

**Title**: Waiting Game**  
Summary**: As Itachi pointed out, it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.**  
Pairing**: ItaTen**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: This is a spiritual successor to _Killing Field._ Also, a general note: Unless I say otherwise, all drabbles are unrelated.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The wedding had taken three weeks to prepare. It would have gone more quickly and probably more smoothly as well, but Mikoto had suddenly started insisting on formalities that hadn't been affected since the earliest days of the Uchiha clan, and that had extended the preparation process, doubling the length of time it had taken to prepare. The Uchiha clan had wedding preparations all their own, unique from the ceremonies of other clans and the main population.

Itachi found it worth it, though.

The ceremony was set to begin soon; he'd stolen a moment away in the garden to breathe and think about everything that had happened, every sensation, every moment that was waiting for him in the main household. Tendrils of smell, of food and drink and the casks of wine taken out of the cellar wafted out of the sliding shoji doors beneath the winding porch roof. The droves of people, people that Itachi would have preferred not to be there (he had wanted a small ceremony, more intimate and emotional, but in the end, the entire clan had either been invited or invited themselves; after all, it was an event that none wanted to miss) but were there anyway.

As wind blew through the small tree in the garden, it carried with it the smell of rain, sweet and fresh, welcoming to late spring coming to a dry summer. The sky was overcast, a deep, swirling blue gray like a painted sky on a canvas, curling streaks of gray intermingling with the soft, deep cornflower blue. A soft, grumbling drum roll of thunder came out of the distance, the wilderness to the north.

A loud, raucous laugh, high and delicious yet utterly discordant, a strange, cacophonous strain of foreign music, floated into line with Itachi's ears. It was Shisui's voice, he realized. Shisui, while only drinking at parties, did possess an inordinate fondness for his wine, especially the plum wine stored in the cellar of the Uchiha estate. While he had arrived late and had only been there for all of fifteen minutes, he was already drunk, making Itachi wonder if he hadn't gotten some practice in before setting out for the Main Household. When Itachi peeked into the room, he could see that Shisui was hitting the wine casks very hard.

Itachi stared up at the shifting sky. It was going to rain soon.

A soft sigh greeted his ears, like a breath of cool air upon a steaming pot of water. Itachi looked around, and nodded in greeting, barely keeping the emotion off of his face.

Dressed all in white, the ivory kimono trailing the ground with the soft swish of silk emanating from all around her, Tenten was silent as she closed the distance between them, not saying a word as Itachi drank in her appearance.

She wasn't wearing any makeup and, rarely, her long brown hair was loose, cascading down her back, almost reaching her waist. Itachi couldn't help but smile, as a memory just barely an hour old came to mind.

Itachi had stood outside the room, with its thin walls, as his mother and one of Tenten's kunoichi friends had fussed over her while getting ready. They had begged her, over and over again, pleaded, wheedled. Just a little red lacquer, some ochre on your lips. Blush on those pale cheeks. Kohl to accentuate your eyes. Mikoto had brought out some of her old ivory combs and hairpins, knowing Tenten didn't have any, and had wanted to pin her hair up in some elaborate design, but Tenten had opted out, despite Mikoto and Ino's protests, wanting to wear her hair loose.

Loose hair, the eternal sign of virginity. Few kunoichi came to the marriage bed a virgin, if they came at all, and Tenten was not unique. Itachi couldn't begrudge her that choice, though.

When they had shown signs of nearly being finished, Itachi spirited himself away, not wanting to be confronted just yet, not wanting to hear the scolding his mother would surely have had for him if she had caught him lurking in places he shouldn't be in.

Itachi himself wore what his father had worn so many years ago at his wedding; the blue fabric smelled to him of dust and old spices, and the silk patterns were just slightly cracked on the inside. It was a little tight across the shoulders.

"I think," Itachi murmured, dipping his chin, and for the first time, he could see Tenten without seeing blood too, "that it is considered very bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."

Tenten nodded, and just as softly parried with one of her own. "And I'm sure, that somewhere on this earth, it is considered even worse luck for it to be raining on the day of the wedding."

Another moment of silence passed, before Tenten, with a gentle smile and a nod towards the throbbing room, informed him, "They'll be wanting me soon."

"Then you should go." Before she left, Itachi took her hands and raised the fingers to his lips, quickly and quietly, not looking at her.

Distant by nature, but happy in his own way.

After she was gone, Itachi stood out in the garden for another moment, before coming to stand under the shelter of porch roof.

It would be raining soon.

And before long, they'd want him inside too.


	28. SasuSaku: Lost Smile

**Title**: Lost Smile**  
Summary**: Sasuke waited for the day when she would smile for him again.**  
Pairing**: SasuSaku**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke remembered her smile.

Sakura's smile had been two things, ingenuous and intending to be seductive. Those two things were so ridiculously disparate, yet they existed at the same time on Sakura's ruby lips, darkness and light competing for dominance over the tract of her fair, admittedly lovely face.

She had always smiled that way, for him and him alone. Sakura had treated that smile as a secret that they alone shared, even when Sasuke had not wanted any of her secrets and had not wanted her to smile at him like they were…_intimate_ friends. Sasuke had loathed that smile, wanted to see it wiped off of Sakura's face so badly that he had done everything he could to eradicate that smile.

But still it had remained. Sakura's hope had been more stubborn than Sasuke had anticipated, and in the end, nothing he said or did while still in Konoha would work. Her hope that one day he would love her simply refused to lay down and die.

At the same time, on some level, Sasuke enjoyed that smile. It was everything sweet and delicious, the only sweet thing he had ever liked. Her smile never showed teeth but throbbed with honesty, unstinting and candid. Sakura had been the only one to ever lavish a smile like that on Sasuke, and it had felt good for a while.

It didn't stop him from redoubling his efforts to destroy it, though.

And when they finally met again, Sasuke wondered if he hadn't succeeded somewhere along the line.

The most irritating and horrifying thing, though, was that Sasuke found he missed it when it was gone.

Sakura didn't smile that way anymore, not for him. That smile, which had been all but an open declaration, was gone, possibly dead. And Sasuke couldn't stand it.

He just waited, and prayed that the day would come when she would smile for him again.


	29. SasuSaku: Important

**Title**: Important**  
Summary**: He was amazed to discover how important she had always been to him.**  
Pairing**: SasuSaku**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: This is an AU in which Sasuke has an encounter with Team 7 before his final fight with Itachi.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Green eyes, flashing like emeralds and sharp as keen kunai, had glared fiercely at him for a moment before disappearing from sight, as Sakura helped carry Naruto away, melting into the night's darkness, the trees swallowing her up.

That glare had burned him far worse than any of Kakashi's fire jutsus could ever hope to.

Sasuke turned over the thoughts, again and again in his mind that night, as he stared into the popping, crackling camp fire. Suigetsu mouthed off as usual; his rash, impulsive nature made him deaf and blind to the inner worries of others, and he was ignorant of Sasuke's internal conflict. Juugo noticed but said nothing, shooting a veiled look sideways at him out of hooded orange eyes.

Karin too noticed how strangely subdued the admittedly already-reserved Sasuke had become. Karin was more attuned to the emotional states of her three comrades than anyone else in the makeshift cell; Sasuke wasn't sure, but he strongly suspected that that had something to do with her being female.

"Sasuke-kun?" In the darkness of the muggy summer night, Karin shifted position and came to sit beside Sasuke, laying a hand on his arm, without the usual coquettish clinginess that Sasuke had come to expect from her. "What's the matter?"

There was genuine concern in her voice, and for a moment, Sasuke considered the wild possibility that he should confide in her. But then he pushed it down. If he told Karin his secrets, that would give her power over him and he didn't want that. Sasuke didn't want anyone to have that sort of power over him.

Sharply, he shook her hand off of his arm; Karin frowned, obviously hurt. Sasuke tried to ignore how much she looked like Sakura when she frowned like that. "Nothing," he told her curtly.

Taking the hint (at least _someone_ in his life knew how), Karin went and sat with Juugo and Suigetsu on the opposite side of the fire, and didn't try to talk to him again.

That green-eyed glare had burned him, reached deep inside without breaking the surface of his skin and twisted his insides until Sasuke couldn't tell his intestines from his liver and his spleen from his stomach.

Maybe Sasuke had been expecting her to smile at him.

Maybe he had expected Sakura to fall all over him and plead and wheedle in the disgusting, cloying way she always had.

Maybe he'd thought that when he found Sakura, she'd still be the same as he remembered. The weak, stupid little genin who constantly fawned over him and always got in the way. Sasuke had thought that when he found Sakura, she'd still be the little girl who needed him to protect her.

Instead, she was different. More of a woman, Sakura had grown into her own as how a kunoichi should be. She was a skilled medic, monstrously strong. Her face had formed the angles of a woman and not a child; her green eyes gleamed with confidence, not childishness.

Sasuke would have to forget her, now.

Sakura couldn't help him on his quest for revenge against Itachi; she wouldn't go along with that. And though she had indeed grown stronger than Sasuke had ever expected, she would still just get in the way. That much, Sasuke was sure, hadn't changed.

But before he started the arduous, draining process of effacing Sakura from memory, Sasuke had to wonder why she bothered him so much in the first place, that he needed to forget her.


	30. ItaHana: No Tears Shed

**Title**: No Tears Shed**  
Summary**: It did impress him, as she made not a sound throughout the procedure.**  
Pairing**: ItaHana**  
Rating**: K+**  
Notes**: This takes place pre-massacre.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The three gray dogs she had brought with her circled restlessly around, tense and unhappy, wayward striplings that were worried for their mistress, tossing their heads and curling their lips back so their teeth showed, making disquieted sounds.

There were no tears on Hana's face. Itachi was impressed, even knowing who she was; her face was instead stark white, making the red fang tattoos seem even more luridly vivid. The Inuzuka heiress would not have shown an undue reaction to pain even if her life depended on it, but Hana was only a genin, eleven years old like him. And considering the situation she was in, no one, let alone Itachi, would have blamed her for crying, as he leg stuck out at an awkward angle in front of her, clearly broken.

Hana's back was pressed up against a tree at the edge of a clearing, facing a field filled with yellow midsummer grass, swaying to the height of Itachi's hip. The jonin who had been on the mission with them (not Itachi's old sensei, and not Hana's either; neither one of them had ever met this particular jonin before being sent on their mission) had carried Hana to a safe place with Itachi and the Haimaru close behind, and laid her down on the parched ground against the shelter of a narrow young oak tree.

Itachi knelt beside her as the jonin came and crouched down on his knees in front of the two. "Hana-san," the jonin murmured, his brown eyes gleaming with sympathy, "I have to set the bone, so when it knits back together it will do so at the right angle."

She nodded, brown bangs trembling. "I know." Her deep black eyes briefly flickered to Itachi. "I've started training to be a med nin. I don't know how to heal with my chakra yet, though."

The jonin showed his approval of that. "When your training is complete you'll be a great asset to injured teammates." He placed his hands on her leg, bare from the knee down. "Do you need anything to bite down on?"

There was always the danger that Hana would grit her teeth to hard while the bone was being set and accidentally bite off part of her tongue, as some nin had been known to do when bones were being set. And the Inuzuka were renowned for having much sharper canines than others.

She shook her head. "No," Hana murmured. "I'm alright."

_So calm…_ Hana was the antithesis of every other Inuzuka Itachi had ever met, quiet and composed, not loud and raucous. She handled her pain well, like an Inuzuka was expected, but with more dignity than most nin twice or even three times her age showed.

But then, Itachi felt a slightly smaller hand grab onto his own, the grip tight and tense. His eyes met hers.

"Please?" Hana asked with a tiny, lopsided smile on her face.

The strained quality of her face was all that betrayed her fear, as well how tight her grip on his hand was.

"Of course," Itachi answered in his quiet mumble, nodding.

A loud crack rang through the air.

One of the Haimaru howled.

Then the others followed.

Hana cut off the circulation to Itachi's hand (he didn't mind too much), but she made not a sound, not so much as a whimper, and no tears fell down on her tattooed cheeks.


	31. SasuKarin: Amaterasu

**Title**: Amaterasu**  
Summary**: It had been _his_ technique that nearly killed her. That bothered him, though he wished it didn't.**  
Pairing**: SasuKarin**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: This takes place when Karin is accidentally hit by Sasuke's Amaterasu while they are fighting Kirabi and the Hachibi.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Karin collapsed over the surface of the water as the black flame tore over her body.

She wanted to scream, but the pain—was it even pain? It felt like death—was too great and silenced her vocal cords, rendering her mute and incapable of expressing her agony to those who were just a few feet in front of her.

As the water swirled all around her, Karin decided that she would likely die, and she decided that dying at the hands of a technique one of her teammates had informed with the intention of destroying an enemy was not how she had wanted to die.

The last thing Karin thought before darkness took her down into deep oblivion, was that she could hear something.

Someone was screaming her name.

Karin hoped it was Sasuke.

But if it was Suigetsu, or Juugo, then that was alright too.

.

It was many hours later—or was it days? No one ever bothered to tell her how much time she had lost—when Karin woke up, eyes meeting a deep indigo sky that was strangely blurred. The stars had strange coronae around them little sparkling pinpricks of light that had brilliant white rings around them. The sickle moon, a sliver barely starting to wax, was fuzzy. Someone had removed her glasses.

Karin could hear a fire near her crackling and could feel the heat.

Her back ached and screamed. In fact, every inch of her body felt that way. It hurt to move her wrist, trying to find her glasses, and Karin soon stopped trying. Her neck didn't want her to move her head, and jolts of lightning white pain shot through her brain with even the slightest movement when she tried to see who was there with her.

Suddenly, a sharp shout cut through the air, making Karin wince in blinding pain. "Hey! She's awake!"

Suigetsu's purple eyes met hers in a moment. He seemed mostly recovered, though Karin could still make out water shifting beneath the surface of his skin. "You bitch!" he exclaimed, voice shaking, with anger and something else that Karin couldn't recognize. "Why the hell didn't you get out of the way in time?"

Karin couldn't answer. Her throat was too dry for her to shout, and she really wasn't in the mood to have it out with Suigetsu that night. Tomorrow, maybe, when her strength had returned and it didn't hurt just for her seared lungs to expand and contract.

"Suigetsu." Juugo's deep, calm voice intruded upon Suigetsu's shaken accusation. He too was back to normal, adult and towering over everyone else. He looked over Karin, as she laid on the soft, springy turf. "Please. I don't think Karin needs this right now."

Suigetsu grumbled something and left, legs wobbling from continued weakness, and he plopped down somewhere away from there.

Juugo crouched down over her, his face somewhat blotchy and pale. "How do you feel?" he asked quietly.

"Awful," Karin croaked, squeezing her eyes shut tightly before groggily opening them again.

Understandingly, Juugo nodded, and looked up when a hand rested on his shoulder.

Juugo left, and Sasuke knelt in his place.

He stared down at her, face strangely even and brittle. "Karin." Sasuke's voice was tight and taut, a mockery of the usual deadly calm he displayed.

With tremendous effort and even greater pain, Karin managed a smile. "I must look awful, don't I?" she joked weakly. She doubted Sasuke cared either way.

Sasuke didn't answer. He pulled something out from her shirt. Sheets of glass twinkled down at Karin as Sasuke leaned over and put her glasses back on her face.

.

The fire was going down. It was nearly dawn, the first stretches of false light sending fingers across the sky.

Sasuke sat in front of the fire, hand negligently gripping a stick which he had been using to stoke it. The fire itself was mostly gone down, sending up little spires of smoke in a death spiral, the embers finally starting to cool down.

Karin was lying on her back beside him. She hadn't moved that whole night, the action too painful.

Sasuke sighed inwardly. Juugo and Suigetsu were more or less ready to start traveling again, but they couldn't go anywhere until Karin had recovered. _Figures it'd be the medic who takes the worst damage._

The Amaterasu had done so much damage, so quickly. Even putting it out as quickly as Sasuke had, it had nearly killed Karin.

He hoped she would be alright.


	32. KibaIno: Color Me Crimson

**Title**: Color Me Crimson**  
Summary**: She looked best in red.**  
Pairing**: KibaIno**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Well, how does this look?"

"What part about "Just wear red," didn't you understand?"

Ino rolled her big pale sapphire eyes, stuck her tongue out at him, and disappeared back into the dressing room. "Alright, alright, I'll try on that red one I found."

Kiba shook his head and growled from his position on the bench as she disappeared back into the dressing room, latching the door. Soon, a spaghetti-strapped pale lavender dress went flying onto the top of the dressing room door.

Kiba didn't pretend to understand much about color schemes for women's clothing. It had never been a subject he was very interested in, and Inuzuka men tended to worry more about their hounds and completing missions than clothing.

He did, however, understand one thing.

Platinum blondes should _not_, under any circumstance, wear pastel shades to a party if they wanted to stand out.

And anyway, red looked much better on Ino than lavender.

The door pressed open; Ino stepped out.

"So?" she tested him, smiling flirtatiously and spreading her arms. "How do I look?"

Ino's dress was crimson in color, the fabric soft and clingy. It was sleeveless and had a fairly deep, but not too deep collar. The skirt went slightly past her knees and swirled around with a soft musical swish.

Kiba grinned, conspicuously eyeing her up and down. "Perfect!"

"Now we've got to find something for _you_ to wear."

Kiba groaned.


	33. ShinoHina: Fireflies

**Title**: Fireflies**  
Summary**: It was midnight, and the fireflies moved like mobile stars.**  
Pairing**: ShinoHina**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: None.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Fireflies moved like freely mobile stars across the expanse of the park as crimson paper lanterns swung lazily in the midnight breeze and small children ran past Shino bearing bright metallic pinwheels.

Their laughs echoed in his ears, aggravating and yet welcome, something that reminded him that he was in a public place and that he wasn't home. It was nice for Shino to know that he wasn't on the Aburame family grounds.

A familiar sound reached Shino's ears. A soft voice, barely audible and hardly noticeable, except to Shino. The voice was soft and light, one that would have been full soprano if utilized at normal decibels. It was sweet and clear, and rested easily on Shino's ears, calm and enjoyable.

Hinata smiled briefly at him as she passed, but then she was gone, and Shino was left to watch the fireflies' progress, and hear her soft voice float over on the breeze.


	34. SasuSaku: Rain of Tears

**Title**: Rain of Tears**  
Summary**: There was no regret, until years later when he should have felt on top of the world.**  
Pairing**: SasuSaku**  
Rating**: K+**  
Notes**: Takes place right after Sasuke kills Itachi, but before Madara tells him the truth of what happened the night of the Uchiha massacre.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

When he had left, there was no regret in his heart. There was nothing left in Konoha for Sasuke and the only road he saw was the one he was making for himself. It led into the depths of Sound, into and out of darkness, to power and revenge. It was the only road, he knew, that led to Itachi and Itachi's death.

Sasuke kept himself blind, deaf and dumb to everything that under different circumstances might have mattered to him in Konoha. Because he had known, even before three black marks burned on his skin, that eventually he would have to leave. He could afford to form no ties, to anyone. Whatever there was that he missed, it would be that much harder to cut it off of his skin later, so Sasuke kept everyone at arm's length, coldly rebuffing any and every attempt at friendship.

Years later, Sasuke was staring down at his brother's face, newly dead. His heart wasn't beating anymore though it had been barely seconds ago. Oddly, there was a smile on Itachi's battered, bloody face, the same sort of smile he would give him when they were younger. Sasuke frowned. Itachi had no right to still be capable of smiling like that.

Itachi was dead. The Uchiha clan had died with him. It was only fitting that the Uchiha's ambitions die with two feuding brothers, as one fell to the ground, heart dead, and the other walked away into memory, never seen nor heard from again.

But something was wrong. Konoha pricked at the corner of Sasuke's memory.

A foreign emotion rumbled up into his gut. Regret. It took Sasuke a moment to realize it for what it was, but he was feeling regret, for the first time in his life.

Frowning more deeply, Sasuke rubbed the area of his neck where his curse mark had been. He had never felt regret before.

What was it? What was it he regretted?

Sasuke closed his eyes, and saw tears. He saw tears falling to the stone ground like rain, harder and faster as each moment wore on, and the moon rose higher in the sky.

The tears weren't his.


	35. ShikaIno: Heart and Mind

**Title**: Heart and Mind  
**Summary**: He hated it when she used that technique.  
**Pairing**: ShikaIno  
**Rating**: K+  
**Notes**: Post time-skip, post manga; I picture them as about nineteen in this.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Her body collapsed limply against his own, head with its light gold hair lolling against his shoulder as the Yamanaka clan's most prominent jutsu took effect.

Shikamaru cursed.

His chakra was depleted; the Kagemane had long since worn off. There was no time to tell which of the new enemies was really Ino, and which still sported their own mind and will.

In the chaos, no matter how Shikamaru looked around, increasingly frantic, he couldn't see Choji. There was no Choji to cover him as he protected Ino's body, no Choji to swipe the enemy away, no Choji to keep them safe.

Shikamaru ran.

It was perfectly acceptable procedure for a nin with a helpless comrade in tow. Tearing across the branches of trees, Shikamaru lugged Ino's body with him, arms around her waits, her long arms and legs flailing out behind him, blonde ponytail rippling almost constantly.

Finally, Shikamaru found a safe place, and hunkered down, waiting for Ino—who had managed to increase the range of her Shintensin exponentially over the years—to return and to fill him in on what she learned in the mind of the enemy.

Shikamaru stared intently at Ino's inert face and winced as a small cut appeared on her cheek. A thin laceration bled suddenly on her arm. The body she was in was sustaining injury; silently, Shikamaru willed Ino to be more careful.

Deep down, Shikamaru hated it when Ino used this technique. Yes, he knew it was a highly useful and versatile jutsu, and yes he knew that the bulk of Ino's ninjutsu skill centered around her mastery of the Shintensin no jutsu and that she'd be crippled without it, but frankly, he hated to see her like this.

When her body was left behind, it was helpless. Shikamaru wasn't sure Ino realized how vulnerable this jutsu made her, and he often wondered what happened to her soul if her physical body sustained mortal wounds. Wondered if her soul would extinguish in a puff of smoke or if she'd be trapped, marooned in a strange body for the rest of her natural life.

"Shikamaru?" Ino was awake. "Good God, man, get your hands off me! What the hell?" Ino was very much awake.

Shikamaru raised his hands, palms pushing against the air, in an appeasing gesture. "I was just making sure you wouldn't have to come back and find a mangled corpse, Ino; get a grip."

Pale sapphire eyes glared accusingly at him. "Why were your hands around my waist?"

Shikamaru glared back. "Because I'd just been carrying you through these damn trees, that's why!" He was shouting. Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure why he was angry enough to shout.

Ino rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever." She tottered to her feet, still unsteady after coming back to her own so abruptly. "Fight's over; I need to attend to the wounded."

At this, Shikamaru plopped down where the branch met the crook of the tree. As Ino was leaving, Shikamaru called after her, "Ino, would you mind warning me the next time you plan on using Shintensin?"

She looked back only briefly, with a brisk, monosyllabic response. "Sure."


	36. LeeSaku: Put on a Pedestal

**Title**: Put on a Pedestal**  
Summary**: He loved her despite knowing next to nothing about her.**  
Pairing**: LeeSaku**  
Rating**: K**  
Notes**: Unfortunately, a very similar case could be made about Hinata's feelings for Naruto and Sakura's for Sasuke.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

It wasn't particularly healthy, and he had lost perspective a long time ago, along with the ability to look at her objectively, and see her faults. Instead, he saw only the good things about her: her beauty, her proficiency at healing, her calm, professional demeanor while at work in the hospital, the way she was getting stronger, and on.

Tenten had once questioned Lee on how much he even knew about Sakura. It bothered her, Lee knew, that he was so deeply infatuated with a girl he wasn't well-acquainted with. She had quizzed him, in fact, after getting the answers to the questions from Ino and Shikamaru, who, with Naruto gone with Jiraiya, knew Sakura best.

What was Sakura's favorite color?

What was her favorite food?

Where was her favorite place to get lunch?

Where did she keep her kunai in the house?

Did she take showers in the morning or the evening?

Were her parents nin?

Did she have any siblings? If so, how many were younger and how many were older?

What plants did her mother (if she was still alive) grow in her garden (If she had one)?

Were her parents still _alive_ at all?

Tenten was very thorough. Lee pointed that out, then readily admitted that he knew the answer to none of those questions. Since Sakura had no family jutsu, it was entirely possible, Lee pointed out, that both of her parents were civilians, but since she was from a small shinobi clan, it was also possible that one or both of her parents had been nin but had never taught her any jutsu. Other than that, he had no idea on any of the questions Tenten had asked.

Sakura was, in short, the perfect girl, and Lee knew that if he tried to find out more about her, the image of her as perfect would likely be shattered. He already had to ignore a great deal of her normal activities and the more well-known facets of her history to put her on the high-up pedestal that he had.

If Lee could focus on her good looks, her professionalism, and her loyalty to her comrades he could shut out all the bad parts about her, that always made up any human being. Lee wasn't sure why, but he just couldn't accept that Sakura was a person with flaws like everyone else, and he just chose to filter out everything unacceptable.

Tenten rolled her eyes, threw her hands up in the air and admitted defeat, walking away. Lee shouted at her that she should _never_ admit defeat, but his kunoichi teammate ignored him. Gai-sensei would have been disappointed.

Lee dropped back down onto the grass and continued daydreaming, about the pink-haired girl he had elevated to lofty heights and had made the object of his affection, yet barely knew.


	37. HayaYuu: Spun Glass

**Title**: Spun Glass**  
Summary**: There was blood seeping from the right hand side of his mouth.**  
Pairing**: HayaYuu**  
Rating**: T**  
Notes**: Pre-Chunin Exam arc.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Genma had been the one who told her he was in the hospital.

Yugao had just returned from a long mission far to the north. Her boots were still caked with mud, her hair still dusty and raunchy from going so long without a decent shower (And being rained on didn't count). Her face was pale, the blood still thick and crusting beneath her pale, strangely delicate fingernails. Her eyes were drooping with exhaustion, lids heavy over deep violet irises.

There had been no trip to the apartment, no quick shower before rushing to the apartment. All Yugao had done was take off her mask and try to conceal the awful state of her hair with a thin black ribbon, knotting it high on her head.

The hospital room had melted into darkness, the tables and equipment seemingly sliding away on a deep ebony sea where reflections came across as clearly as if in jet black glass. All that was left of it was the heart monitor that continued to chirp across thousands of miles, and the dripping IV, hooked up to Hayate's arm, a long, snake coil that gleamed and twinkled strangely in the darkness.

There was blood dribbling from his mouth again, and Yugao slipped into the room as swift and silent as a skittish cat, afraid to disturb anything, afraid it would all shatter away like the most brittle spun glass if she was to make footsteps louder than whispering shadows.

Blood slid from the lower right-hand corner of Hayate's mouth, and Yugao shivered slightly at the sight. There had been blood on her mission, blood still on her hands, and she didn't want any reminder of it, not there, not on him.

She didn't want to be confronted with the irrational, dangerous, erroneous thought that she was somehow responsible for the blood coming from Hayate's mouth.

The hospital had become such a familiar place for Yugao that she knew the walls like the walls of her own apartment in the ANBU complex, and the antiseptic smell was as familiar to her as the smell of rice cooking over her stove. Familiar places that had become dreaded, because every time she was there, it wasn't for herself but for Hayate instead.

Sighing, Yugao braved the screaming of her weary knees and knelt beside the bed. Her head and shoulders resting on the white sheets, it was as good a place to sleep as any.

It would be hours until daylight, and Yugao had no intention of leaving until he did.


End file.
